Dolby Atmos


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Why did the new Playbase not integrate Dolby Atmos?

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I'd be surprised if it were on their roadmap, given the potential licensing issues, much less backwards compatibility problems. If, and it would be a pretty outside chance, that they were to do something, I'd assume it would be in a new speaker, and not a simple add-on.
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Been following PlayBar for a while now. With Apple announcing AppleTV 4K with software update coming soon for Atmos support. I’m hoping to see fresh hardware from Sonos on PlayBar. I feel the PlayBar is extremely limited and dated honestly. I’ve been there done that with high end home theater and now just want simplistic setup, but still supporting latest tech. Let’s do this Sonos, streaming is clearly the future and it seems all hardware vendors are jumping on Atmos bandwagon.
I'm seeking for a Sonos Playbar (not the Playbase) including BOTH DTSX and Dolby Atmos (along with Sub & a pair of Play3), free of issues or bugs, and at a reasonable price. I'm from a country where there is no outlet of SONOS, nonetheless I'm eagerly waiting for such an exotic sound system (even from a third party).

NB. Playbar of length not greater than 43" is desirable since the standard size of the present day 4K HDR TV starts from 43" & most suitable for a compact living room)

In my view, the aforementioned system must defeat all the available atmos soundbar e.g., sony st5000, samsung kw950 or lgsj9.
Thanks in anticipation of your future plan in this direction.
Sonos, you are way outside "cutting edge" right now. This is not how you became so successful... step it up!
Userlevel 2
The original response from Ryan, 8 months ago, was that high fidelity codecs were a long way off or irrelevant to the target Sonos market: streamers.

In a few short months that has turned out to be entirely false. All major video streamers (Netflix etc) are incorporating these codecs (DD+/Atmos) with regularity now.

Sonos has no answer and is getting lapped by weaker products that are easily integrating this audio capability into its sound bar home theatre solutions.

In short, the standard Sonos reply (that they were never after the bluray market) no longer holds water. They have failed to adapt. The fact that they released a new home theatre product in 2017 that runs an optical cable (and thus handicaps its capability now and in the future), is comical, really. I laughed at my dad’s Bose system 8 years ago for not having an HDMI port.

New product ($900) for television application with no HDMI? Get the fuck out of here. Who is running this company?!
Userlevel 7
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New product ($900) for television application with no HDMI? Get the fuck out of here. Who is running this company?!

Someone pretty senior at Blackberry and look how that went !
https://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/feature/2473044/6-reasons-blackberry-crumbled-in-the-smartphone-market
I'm hoping for something like a Play 3-Remake with an HDMI-Input. It could be used as center and send the DTS / Atmos / etc to any other Sonos-speakers which can then be used as left, right, rear and atmos channels.
PLEASE! I'd immediately go for this.
I’m patiently waiting on Sonus to offer something. I currently have a play 1 but have held off getting anything else because of this issue. I have a feeling I will be investing in Denon or Bluesound if Sonos does not adapt. I would be happy with simple acknowledgment that a product to address the issue is in the works.

Guys. If you read these threads listen to us. Don’t think someone can’t take your spot.
I just pulled the trigger on an LG OLED65C7P with Atmos sound. I have SONOS audio all over the house but never hooked my TV/Surround system into it. I'm looking for the right audio system to go with it as my 5.1 with the old TV is pooched. The Playbar looks very long in the tooth and while I'd like the TV hooked into the audio system - it doesn't look like money well spent now. I'll hold off for a new Playbar with Atmos support - but I hope it will be soon in 2018...if it takes too long...I'll have to find another solution...maybe add a Connect to be able to put music through it.
I just pulled the trigger on an LG OLED65C7P with Atmos sound. I have SONOS audio all over the house but never hooked my TV/Surround system into it. I'm looking for the right audio system to go with it as my 5.1 with the old TV is pooched. The Playbar looks very long in the tooth and while I'd like the TV hooked into the audio system - it doesn't look like money well spent now. I'll hold off for a new Playbar with Atmos support - but I hope it will be soon in 2018...if it takes too long...I'll have to find another solution...maybe add a Connect to be able to put music through it.

I got a OLED65B7A this holiday season, which does not support Atmos, for a very simple reason in this thread: Sonos does not support Atoms and HDMI. My wiring is very typical: HDMI to TV, optics to soundbar. I doubt Sonos would make the Atoms happen without a new product. However, a product that solved this kind of backward compatibility issues would sell.
Praying to see SONOS announcing Atmos / DTS on CES this week!
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Others

https://www.whathifi.com/news/lg-kicks-2018-new-soundbars-and-smart-speakers
https://www.cnet.com/news/lg-pushes-google-smarts-to-the-fore-on-its-2018-audio-products/

https://www.whathifi.com/news/ces-2018-sennheiser-unveils-ambeo-3d-soundbar-plus-new-headphones

https://www.cnet.com/news/sony-offers-cheaper-pseudo-atmos-sound-bars-at-ces-2018/

https://www.cnet.com/news/tcl-roku-smart-soundbar-rocks-rokus-new-audio-streaming-system-ces/
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Sonos is dead in the Home Theater waters if they don't announce something this week.
Writing here as someone looking to purchase a soundbar. Would dearly love to consider a sonos but i just don't see a new playbar being on the horizon, which is a real shame.

Looking at the new sony and LG bars announced with dolby atmos rather than waiting for sonos indefinitely.
Just like 4K being few and far between, Atmos will soon be everywhere and the norm. All in time...
Userlevel 3
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Sonos CEO told someone in September that they are actively looking into incorporating Atmos. There was a Reddit thread on it.
According to the information here: https://www.lifewire.com/digital-optical-connection-1846881

It is important to note that digital audio signals, such as 5.1/7.1 multi-channel PCM, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS:X, and Auro 3D Audio cannot be transferred via Digital Optical connections - These formats require HDMI connections.

Which means that if indeed Sonos is looking at it, they're looking at a new device that has HDMI, and none of us who have PLAYBARs or PLAYBASEs will be able to play without a replacement device.
This is the reason I use the Sonos System ONLY for Music. I have a Receiver and wired speakers to get all the toys that Movie Media has to offer. I came to this site to see if I could use Sonos for everything and sadly I cannot. Only music, which is fine with me. I'll keep checking though to see what the future offers.
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A little outdated comment in that we know an hdmi capable playbar is getting announced in June.
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I cannot wait, I sold my playbar few years ago.i still love Sonos just been waiting for an update I hope this is it I'll gladly ditch my receiver setup and wires for an updated playbar that can do true 5.1 I don't even care about Atmos that would just be icing on the cake.
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What does "true 5.1" mean?? The Playbar/bases already do that.
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True.

I assume he must be saying 5 seperate speakers.
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And now Apple TV 4k will be supporting Dolby Atmos....
Just wanted to comment on the point made a couple months ago that if Sonos can handle 32 speakers in a system, then they would be able to handle a 7.1.4 system, or whatever it is. I don't think that's a great comparison though, as the standard wholehouse setup is a net, meaning each unit passes the stereo signal on to others without the original source having to make the connection to all the units in the group itself. It also is done over 2.4 GHz and has a nice buffer. The Home Theatre setup is different in that the playbar unit has to send the right channel of sound to the right speaker by itself. It's not a net, it's more of a master slave situation. It also has to be done at 5 GHz with no real buffer in order to keep the audio in sync with the video. So in order for a new playbar to do dolby atmos , it's got to be able to send around maybe 5- 12 separate signals to all the speakers in the atmos group, with not much buffer to work with. A lot more difficult.

Not to mention, are there going to be that many customers that want to buy that many speakers and have the ability to plug them in where they need to go. I realize that a lot of the channels can be built in to the soundbar, but it's still quite a bit.